Padstow speedboat crash: Father and daughter killed after their speedboat overturns in Cornwall

A father and his young daughter were killed on Sunday and four other family
members seriously injured after they were thrown from their speedboat which
then mowed them down in the water.

By John Bingham, Rosa Silverman and Alice Philipson

8:50PM BST 05 May 2013

The six holidaymakers from London were riding in the boat in the Camel estuary near Padstow, Cornwall, when it flipped over, hurling them into the water.

The rigid inflatable boat careered on out of control, running the group over and killing the 51–year–old father and his eight–year–old daughter.

The man's 39–year–old wife, and their three other children – a four–year–old son and two daughters aged 10 and 12 – suffered "life changing injuries"after the collision and were airlifted to hospital.

Martin Jenkins, 63, of Padstow, said: "I heard the helicopter and went over to the estuary and saw the ambulance crews working on a couple of people. It was all very frantic and the people were lying on the floor in a lot of discomfort.

"It looked terrible, the water was filled with blood like a horror film."

Supt Jim Colwell of Devon and Cornwall police said: "This is a tragic incident, what we know at the moment is that we have two fatalities, a 51–year–old adult male and an eight–year–old female. We also know this was an incident that happened in the middle of the river involving, tragically, members of the same family.

"Unfortunately the family members that were taken to hospital do have life changing injuries."

The accident unfolded just before 4pm when onlookers enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend saw the boat – understood to belong to the victims – overturn, throwing all six occupants into the water before continuing out of control.

Video footage taken by a witness in the immediate aftermath of the accident shows the boat travelling in circles before being brought under control by lifeboat crew.

Coastguard rescue teams from St Merryn and Polzeath attended the scene along with Rock inshore lifeboat and Padstow all weather lifeboats.

Search and rescue helicopters from RNAS Culdrose and RMB Chivenor also flew to the scene. The casualties were airlifted to Derreford Hospital in Plymouth by two Royal Navy helicopters. A female witness, who asked not to be named, added: "We saw two ambulances on the beach, they were working on two people who looked in a lot of trouble.

"That boat must have hit those poor people at a terrifying speed."

Earlier reports had suggested that the speedboat crashed into a group of kayakers but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency last night said all those injured had been in the boat before the accident took place.

Southwestern Ambulance Service said those injured were children and adults with leg injuries of various degrees of severity.

Supt Colwell added that police believe the family were not from the local area and were renting a holiday home nearby.

Police last night appealed for witnesses and said they were examining the boat and CCTV footage to understand how the tragedy happened.

The celebrity chef Rick Stein, who has four restaurants in Padstow, tweeted: "Our thoughts are with [the] injured and bereaved involved in the tragic accident in Padstow this afternoon."